You’ve survived summer this far but it will be sticky and uncomfortable for while. Are you doing it wrong? The Great Aussie Lifestyle. Thanks to British colonialism and a dash of globalization, yes you are!
Here are nine tips life-saving tips to bring down the mercury. Yes, an Aussie Summer is that dramatic, even out of the surf.
1. Don’t wear synthetics!
This will be a heart breaker for New Gens who think ironing was invented to keep women trapped in the home. True, synthetics don’t wrinkle and dry quickly but they don’t breathe, raise your body temperature, and are often thicker than natural fabrics - like silk, cotton, linen or bamboo. Nylon and polyester didn’t come into fashion until the 1950s so consideration for tropical climates in a world of globalized cheap and fast fashion was an afterthought. Before that, centuries and centuries of natural clothing were worn. We can’t even compare ourselves to our ancestors because many were wrapped in layers of wool, and kept the tradition even when they moved to tropical climates. All in the name of propriety! Instead, think of the fine silk and light cottons from Asian cultures.
2. Wear a trendy hat!
Both men and women wore hats until the 1960s when it became less status-worthy. That was a blink in human history, so why can’t we bring the hat back? Hats made of natural fibres like panama straw are so fashionable! Pick up a modified fedora hat made of straw and make like Meghan Markle. An actress first wore the fedora hat on stage in 1882 in the Northern Hemisphere. It was made of dark felt – perfectly sensible there, not so much here. Give your straw fedora a tilt and you’ll be turning heads.
A big ol’ straw bucket hat is perfect as well. Australia is the skin cancer centre of the known universe, so slap on a hat everyday! Western women wore their heads covered when outside for most of history, when modesty and pale skin were still virtues.
3. Don’t wear black
Black fashion is everywhere. Cold capitals of fashion decided it was chic! In the 1800s men in Australia often wore cream-coloured business attire. This was made of, you guessed it, natural fibres like silk or linen. Think safari suits but not as they’ve been taunted today as party costumes. Think Sean Connery and Michael Caine in The man who would be King. It wasn’t until the Gold Rush boom in the 1850s and the influx of British and French shops did fashions copy the colder climates. What were they thinking!
Black absorbs all wavelengths of light and reflects none. White reflects all wavelengths of light and absorbs the least heat. If you love black even in summer, wear loose and flowing cotton like a North African Bedouin. Their trick is as their fabric blows in the breeze, the additional heat that black gathers, is lost before it reaches the skin.
4. Sleep naturally
Do you proudly sleep on Egyptian cotton or Belgian flax linen sheets? Well you are not only oh-so tasteful, you are the smart one. Poly-cotton sheets are cheaper because synthetic polyester is cheaper to make (from crude oil by the way) but you will be a few degrees hotter. Guaranteed! If you love a luxe bed, do swap your 1000 thread count for a light 350 and summer snoozing will be much more comfortable. A thin mattress topper in summer will also reduce the contact area and keep you cooler.
5. Makeover your seating
Ok so having a leather couch means you are fly, plus you don’t get a sweat-soaked fabric couch. Hoorah! However, you will be hotter because there isn’t any ventilation where your skin touches. That ‘peel me off the retro vinyl chair pad’ feeling can be avoided with natural fabric cushions of cotton, linen or bamboo. For your gorgeous leather couch, use a light cotton throw. Result: no more leg waxing via your furniture. Sorry to minimalists and industrial lovers! You’ll just have to soften up.
6. Stay cool - passively
Air con just makes summer worse, unless you want to be house-bound and car-bound, and mall-bound, you’ll feeler hotter as soon as you exit your artificial environment. Many Australian homes were originally built for summer! With under-floor ventilation, shaded windows using verandahs or shutters, and lots of windows and doors. Even if you don’t live in a timber beauty, keep your space cool with cross-ventilation, shading vegetation, and make sure your roof is insulated or has a whirly gig (convective ventilation). Plantation interior design also remains fashionable, inspired by 19th century Southern U.S. farmhouses, so use window shutters and big ceiling fans - you’ll be cooler and oh so trendy.
7. Be a guru and eat cool food
According to ancient Indian Ayurvedic practices, foods that cool the Pita part of us, that is most aggravated in hot weather, will help keep you balanced. Summer fruits are perfect, as well as coriander and mint. Even the Moroccans know mint tea is the best cooler. Bitter or astringent foods are good like rocket, basil and bitter greens. Stay away from foods that heat you up like chilli and reduce sour and fermented foods (yoghurt is ok) no garlic or onion, no coffee (gasp) or alcohol! (faint) Buy what is grown in summer and you’ll be well on your way to cooling your body from the inside.
8. ‘No cook’ cooking
Salads are a girl’s best friend and a man can call it a ‘constructed meal’ without losing face because he likes lots of leaves. Leaves are only the foundation! Nuts, cold meats and cheeses turn the idea of a salad into a nourishing feast. Juicy vegetables like cucumber make ‘constructed meals’ reviving and will cool your brow after a hard day’s work in the sweating fields, aka commuter life. A rotisserie chicken will keep the hungriest protein-lover away from the stove, and over a large bowl of goodness piled high like a pyramid. Go crazy with your choice of crushed crackers on top and you’ll feel like a Pharaoh.
9. Leave the cooking outside
Ok, I concede, Australia is doing one thing right in summer - BBQ! Keep the heat outside of your home and feel cooler in the night air. Did you know entire ancient cultures got takeaway food every day! Before good plumbing, village ovens were located near a well and were quite social places. Don’t feel guilty if you pick up a meal rather than make one at home.
Australians, you are now into control of your own thermostat. Go tackle the tropics with the wisdom of a colonial jungle explorer. Who would have thought? That history class was so critical to surviving The Great Aussie Summer.